Visual Learning Board | Physical Education Visuals
Mar 16, 2024
Kas
Whiteboards and displays are used in almost every area of teaching, regardless of the subject or year level. The evidence is abundant and clear on the importance of visual learning for information retention and general engagement. Your physical education learning space should be no different.
Various studies report that 75 of all information processed by the brain is derived from visual formats. Furthermore, visual information is mapped better in students’ minds (Williams, 2009).
I understand that not every school has adequate space for P.E lessons, not every school has a gym, classroom and in some situations, the spaces you use are shared. This limits what you can do in terms of visual learning and how you can do it. Don’t worry I understand these circumstances very well as I was once in a similar situation. I had to work with very limited space whilst trying to create the best lessons possible for my students. It can be really frustrating at times; especially as most other learning areas have a designated space to teach and learn.
Here are some things you can do to combat this issue of minimal space whilst still ensuring you use visual learning in your P.E lessons.
Purchase A Whiteboard!
You can purchase smaller whiteboards that you can use and bring along to any teaching space you are using for your HPE lesson. This is something I have done since I started being a P.E teacher and haven’t stopped since. Whilst it seems like hard work you become use to it really quickly, it’s no different to carrying equipment to your teaching space as it is part of your resources and for the most part, students love to help and take charge in carrying the whiteboard.
The whiteboard does not need to be large at all, I have had whiteboards in a range of sizes and as long as you can write a few learning intentions or hang up a visual learning poster/ diagram that is more than enough.
A Whiteboard Allows Students To:
- Have a focus point during instruction time
- Allows them to stay engaged whilst you are teaching
- Supports what you are saying through what’s written on the board
- Allows students to relate the information to diagrams and images
- Something they can refer back too throughout the lesson
- Allows them to be independent learners and self-directed
Whiteboard Benefits The Teacher By:
- Allows you to support students who learn differently
- Allows you to provide visuals for your instructions
- Gives you something that you can direct students to refer to if they are unsure (saves your voice!)
- Reminds you of what you are covering, supports similar to a lesson plan if you write learning intentions, lesson objectives and success criteria on your board
- Gives you something to refer to for your own memory!
- Makes the space look more like a learning environment which reminders students and others that the space needs to be respected
Learners understand information better in the classroom when they see it. Visual information is presented in different formats, such as images, flowcharts, diagrams, video, simulations, graphs, cartoons, coloring books, slide shows/Powerpoint decks, posters, movies, games, and flash cards (Rodger et.al. 2009).
Whiteboards are amazing tools for P.E teachers, generally when I’m writing on my whiteboard my students huddle around me to watch me draw diagrams and write out success criteria. The difference in their engagement is very noticeable as they aren’t looking at the ground, their friends or playing with the grass! They are watching your whiteboard. I’ve also observed on many occasions students during the activity, stop what they are doing when they are unsure, go back to the whiteboard and .. say ‘Ahhh’ ‘that’s what we are meant to do’. It becomes a place for them to confirm what the goal is and also provides those students who are too shy to raise their hand in front of the class some extra guidance without feeling like they are asking a silly question.
Displaying learning intentions in the classroom and in student books has become common practice and for good reason! It works. As such, we need to ensure we are doing the same thing or something similar in HPE lessons as it is a valuable learning area that should very much use best practices where possible to ensure students have every opportunity to learn and understand what is being taught.
Based on various studies, students remember information better when it is represented both visually and verbally. These strategies help students of all ages to better manage learning objectives and achieve academic success.
Visual Learning Bin / Laminated Posters
Yes- it is what it sounds like. If you don’t want to purchase a whiteboard this is a great alternative. Most P.E teachers store their equipment in a wheelie bin (Australian lingo). This is a larger rectangular container that has a lid and two wheels at the bottom. When you tip the bin on its side it moves easily like a sack truck, when it’s flat on the ground I does not move. Amazing, right?
It is used to store balls of all types and almost every type of equipment you can things off, it transports equipment from a storage area to where you need it easily and when you are done you wheel it back into your storage area. If you use something else this trick can still work, essentially all it is using whatever larger container you typically store your equipment in as a moveable surface in which you can hang up posters and diagrams on.
I have used a learning bin for many different things throughout my years of teaching P.E. As I also bring my whiteboard out with me to each lesson I don’t necessarily use it for my own diagrams or objectives. It typically gets used for laminated posters white explain the category or sport we are doing (Invasion Games or Net-Court and Wall Games) or a poster than explains the skills that are covered in this unit of work or fundamental movement skills that will be developed during the activities.
Visual learning also helps students to develop visual thinking, which is a learning style whereby the learner comes better to understand and retain information better by associating ideas, words and concepts with images.
My Favourite Way To Use It? (I think the best way)
Is as a social-emotional check-in for my students. This concept and pedagogy itself is for another article (Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility ‘Don Helison’ in P.E) but I will give you an over-simplified way of how I implement an emotional check-in which that later helps me unpack our TPSR framework.
On my visual bin, it has four sides. On each side I have a face that depicts a different emotion. (Happy, sad, angry, unsure). When students arrive to my lesson the knock on the side that they are feel and when they leave they do the same thing. Its part of our routine.
How This Benefits The Lesson:
- Allows students to express their current state in a personal way without verbalising it (verbalising our emotions are tricky at the best of times)
- Accessible for students of all ages and does not need in-depth explanations or over-complicated instructions
- Provides you valuable information prior to the start of your lesson on which students you need to check in with, to ensure they are okay and for their success in your lesson
- Provides you with some insight of which students may need an additional break, cool-off time and which students should not be partnered with together
- Allows you to see how students feel about your lesson on their exit
- Provides you with an effective and efficient way to monitor emotional data in a HPE setting and it can be used anywhere on your school site
- Allows students to be introspective and reflect in a way that does not make them feel vulnerable in front of you their teacher or their peers.
Summary
There are many more ways in which you can use visual learning in a creative way to foster better student outcomes and make your day-to-day teaching life more efficient. Trust me, once you start using visual learning in your physical education lessons you won’t go back! The evidence is clear, visual learning allows students to learn more effectively and retain information at a higher level.
(Depicts visual learning compared to traditional earning, Williams, 2009).
If you have other ways you use visual learning in your space, let us know! We are always keen to get amazing ideas from other motivated educators.